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Resources updated between Monday, May 06, 2013 and Sunday, May 12, 2013

May 9, 2013

Navi Pillay tries to right herself

UN Human Rights Chief Navi Pillay is getting worried somebody might figure out she was on the wrong side of history in Egypt. Her latest press statement is entitled: "Egypt risks drifting away from human rights ideals." D'ya think? So Pillay now has this to say about the legal moves currently unfolding under the human rights tutelage of the Muslim Brotherhood: "I am very concerned that the new law, if adopted in its current form, may leave them in a worse situation than they were prior to the fall of the Mubarak Government in 2011."

The UN is proclaiming it is both legally immune and not responsible for a cholera outbreak in Haiti that has sickened nearly 500,000 and killed over 7,750 people since October 2010. The outbreak began with the arrival of UN peacekeepers from Nepal. But a Boston-based human rights group is determined this will not be the last word. The Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti said Wednesday it will sue the United Nations in 60 days if the world body does not agree to compensate Haitian cholera victims, apologize to the Caribbean nation for introducing the disease through its peacekeeping force, and launch a major effort to improve sanitation.

UN-accredited NGO, the Association for Trauma Outreach and Prevention (ATOP) of Meaningful World, is one more UN-associated group dedicated to perpetuating the narrative of the Palestinian victim. How's this for a new level of nonsense: "When communities are victimized there is more attraction to victimhood which is called horizontal violence. " The trauma allegedly suffered? "Children have to see soldiers pointing weapons at them or killing their families on a daily basis."

Saudi Arabia is the Chair of the UN's Counter-Terrorism Centre Advisory Board. Well, it does know a lot about terrorism - as a major player in the realm of training, financing and indoctrinating terrorists. Saudi Arabia has also ratified the terrorism treaty of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which defines terrorism to exempt hitting Jewish or American or any other target while engaged in "armed struggle against foreign occupation, aggression, colonialism, and hegemony, aimed at liberation and self-determination." So how did Saudi Arabia come to Chair the UN "counter-terrorism" group? The UN website unabashedly informs us that they bought it: "In 2011, through a voluntary contribution of the Government of Saudi Arabia, the United Nations Secretariat was able to launch the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre (UNCCT)." The Obama administration responded by joining their Advisory Board.

The State Department's recent release of its human rights report on Saudi Arabia contains the following statement under the heading "anti-Semitism:" "There were no known Jewish citizens." Judenrein Arab states are a stark reminder of the human rights bona fides of the future "Palestine."

Haaretz is reporting that Israel is considering in the near future a return to cooperation with the UN human rights system in Geneva. None of Israel's concerns about the deep anti-Israel and anti-Jewish bias of the system and its flagship Human Rights Council have been addressed. There is no chance whatsoever that the permanent agenda of the Council - which has one item reserved for Israel-bashing and one for considering all other 192 UN members - will be changed. UN special investigator on Israel, Richard Falk - the notorious apologist for terrorists from Gaza to Boston - is still in place. The Council's habit of adopting resolutions condemning Israel at a pace many times greater than any other state continues. So why would Israel legitimize the Council and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights by returning cap-in-hand? Try pressure from the Obama administration - which has become the lead champion of the Council. Israel's absence rebuts the false Obama narrative that the policy of legitimizing the Council is actually consistent with promoting human rights, rights like preventing antisemitism. Israel has nothing to gain from legitimizing the Council in the absence of real reform.

In case you ever wondered what the UN was doing instead of protecting world peace: The official UN Twitter account followed a busty German porn star in X-rated videos. "@PBDBigBustyStar was one of only 537 people followed by @UN - until the account got busted."

Syrian rebels (are these the good ones Obama looks set to fund?) have abducted four UN peacekeepers on the Golan Heights. The Security Council hasn't adopted any resolution yet. Still looking for an anti-Israel angle so they can be "even-handed."

Reports indicate that Syrian President Assad has activated Palestinian terrorists to strike Israel from Syria. Given that Israel can do no right at the UN, Assad may well be calculating that hitting Israel would take some of the heat off. And indeed, AP is already reporting that it would be understandable "retaliation" for Israel's strikes on Syria - notwithstanding Israel was only moving to prevent advanced Iranian weaponry from reaching Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon.

UNIFIL (the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon) is very upset by Israel's failure to allow Hezbollah to acquire advanced weaponry (weaponry that Hezbollah wants in order to kill as many Jews as possible as soon as the terror organization can start the next war). UNIFIL is the UN "peacekeeping" force that has permitted Hezbollah to engage in massive rearmament since 2006 directly contrary to Security Council resolution 1701. But here's what's really bothering UNIFIL: "UNIFIL says that in the course of the past week it has observed a higher number of Israeli air violations over Lebanese air space...The U.N. Interim Force has lodged firm protests with the Israeli Defence Force on this matter asking them to cease the over flights," according to U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky.

The UN "independent international commission of inquiry for Syria" reported and then walked-back the claim that Syrian rebels have used chemical weapons. They now say "the Commission is not in a position to further comment on the allegations at this time." What is clear is that the UN is busy struggling with the politics of chemical weapons instead of the facts - as per its usual pattern.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has swung into action on Syria - to criticize Israel for destroying Hezbollah-bound weapons on Syrian territory. The threat to international peace and security, and specifically to Israel, from weaponry switching hands and moving across borders from Syria grows more dire day-by-day. The UN chief thought the right response was to ask "all sides" (ie Israel) to "exercise maximum calm and restraint" - and respect Syrian "national sovereignty and territorial integrity." Since when was murdering 70,000 + and arming organizations committed to attacking a neighboring state, an internal sovereign affair?